SPRINGFIELD – Under a new law sponsored by State Senator Bill Cunningham and State Representative Fran Hurley, special education students will get to graduate with their classmates starting with the 2021-2022 school year.

“We are righting a long-standing wrong by allowing special education students to finish out their final year of school,” said Cunningham, a Democrat who represents portions of Chicago and the southwest suburbs. “Starting this year, they will get to graduate with their classmates and say proper goodbyes to their friends and teachers.”

Previous Illinois law allowed special education students to remain in school past the typical graduation age of 18, but required them to stop attending classes as soon as they turned 22. The new law, originally House Bill 40, establishes that they can finish out the year they age out of the system.

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SPRINGFIELD – Senator Bill Cunningham passed a plan out of the Illinois Senate that would allow small breweries, meaderies, and winemakers to distribute their products to local bars, grocery stores, and liquor stores directly rather than through a third party, helping local businesses reach their customers.

“We’ve seen an explosion of small beer, wine, and mead makers in recent years, and they’ve become staples of our local bar and restaurant scene,” said Cunningham, a Democrat who represents portions of Chicago and the southwest suburbs. “People want to be able to buy their products at local grocery and liquor stores, and we should make that easier to do.”

Under current Illinois law, most companies that produce alcohol have to sell their products to local grocery and liquor stores through a third-party distributor. Tracing back to the post-prohibition era, this set up is meant to help prevent the unregulated sale of alcohol and aid in the collection of alcohol-related taxes. It is still employed by almost every state in the U.S.

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SPRINGFIELD –State Senator Bill Cunningham advanced legislation out of the General Assembly that would allow special education students to graduate with their peers, rather than leave school the day they turn 22.

“Special education students deserve a natural end to their final school year,” said Cunningham, a Democrat who represents portions of Chicago and the southwest suburbs. “They should be able to graduate with their friends and say goodbye the same way every other student does.”

Current Illinois law allows special education students to remain in school past the typical graduation age of 18, but it requires them to stop attending classes as soon as they turn 22.

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CHICAGO – State Senator Bill Cunningham announced the Illinois Department of Transportation has slated six miles of Harlem Avenue for major upgrades this year. The more-than-$7 million project includes repaving and increasing access for people with disabilities.

“Harlem Avenue is an important road connecting the southwest suburbs,” said Cunningham, a Democrat who represents portions of Chicago and the southwest suburbs. “The stretch seeing improvements is a heavily trafficked business corridor, so we need to keep it in good repair.”

The upgrades will begin just south of 62^nd St. in Chicago and end at 111^th St. in Worth. In addition to repaving, the repairs include better lane markings and divisions, and making street crossings safer and easier for people in wheelchairs or who otherwise have limited mobility.

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